Florida’s Everglades Airport To Be Turned Into “Alligator Alcatraz”

I’ve written in the past about the Dade-Collier Training and Transition Airport, which is located in the Everglades. Nowadays, it’s a small, nearly abandoned general aviation airport. However, the history of it is fascinating, as in 1968, there were plans for it to become the world’s biggest airport.

It looks like there are now new plans for the facility (thanks to Jeff for flagging this), though they’re no doubt controversial, and certainly less appealing to us aviation geeks…

Florida airport to be turned into migrant detention facility

Recently, Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier laid out a plan for Florida to turn the Dade-Collier Training and Transition Airport into a migrant detention facility, which he’s naming “Alligator Alcatraz.” In a video he posted to his own social media, he described this as follows:

“Efficient. Low cost opportunity to build a temporary detention facility because you don’t need to invest that much into the perimeter. People, get out. There’s not much waiting for them, other than alligators and pythons. Nowhere to go, nowhere to hide.”

The goal is to have this facility up and running by early July, with at least 1,000 beds (though in a later interview, Uthmeier increased that number to 5,000 beds). As Uthmeier described it, migrants will be housed in “light infrastructure,” including “heavy-duty tent facilities, trailer facilities.” “We’ll detain, deport and get people out of this country, it’s a great facility.”

Uthmeier acknowledged that “a lot of people thought maybe it was just a joke, but no, we’re serious,” and that “the perimeter is already set by Mother Nature.” The facility is expected to cost $450 million per year to run, though Florida will have the opportunity to seek reimbursement from the federal government.

Governor Ron DeSantis’ office has issued the following statement about the plan:

“Governor DeSantis has insisted that the state of Florida, under his leadership, will facilitate the federal government in enforcing immigration law. At the governor’s direction, the Florida Division of Emergency Management has drafted and submitted to DHS a plan (the State immigration Enforcement Operations Plan—attached) for Florida to further assist in the detention, processing, and deportation of illegal immigrants. Florida’s DEM has also offered to buy the Dade-Collier Training and Transition Airport for this purpose. Utilizing this space and/or others around the state, Florida will continue to lead in immigration enforcement.”

State tries to buy airport with lowball offer

The airport is owned by Miami-Dade, but state officials are able to take over this land under emergency powers granted to the governor under a declared state of emergency over illegal immigration, which was issued in 2023. Under Florida law, the governor has the power to use private property if it is deemed necessary to “cope” with an emergency.

With plans to use the facility in the long run, state and county officials are currently negotiating the purchase of the property, though they’re a long ways apart in terms of valuation. The state has offered to pay $20 million for the land, while a May 2025 appraisal assessed the land at $195 million.

Furthermore, the Miami-Dade County Mayor has raised concerns to state officials about developing the property, arguing that any changes require “considerable review and due diligence.” The Division of Emergency Management Director has said that it’s “imperative that we fully understand the scope and scale of the proposed use of the site and what will be developed, as the impacts to the Everglades ecosystem could be devastating.”

Bottom line

The Everglades’ Dade-Collier Training and Transition Airport, which was once supposed to become the world’s largest airport, will be closed and turned into a migrant facility. This is all happening very quickly, and by July, there should be at least 1,000 people detained there.

Obviously we all have our political opinions on this, and in all honesty, that’s not the angle from which I’m coming at this. Instead, my most frequent route is between Miami (MIA) and Tampa (TPA), and every time I take this flight, I look at Flightradar24, specifically because I’m curious if I can spot this airport. This is just such a unique facility, when you consider what was almost built there. Obviously as a migrant facility, I’ll have a slightly different impression.